Dojo Fights and Snowball Battles
by SkyChasingDreamer
Summary: The original Joui three may have had a hard childhood, but there were moments worth smiling about when they were all together where they wanted to be. Joui kid!fic.


Takasugi faces off against Gintoki and prepares himself for another strike. He's down one in terms of scoring and he's not going to lose the day to this nose picking jerk. It was one hundred twenty-two to one hundred twenty-one, Takasugi will need two more wins to be able to take the victory back.

He takes a step and tightens his hand on the hilt of his training sword, ready just in case Gintoki lunges. It's always so hard to tell with him because half the time it doesn't even look like he's paying any attention. It keeps Takasugi on edge and it has his heart pounding, it __always__ makes him feel alive. More alive than at home, there's more life in Gintoki's dead eyes than anywhere else outside the dojo. It's snowing outside, the trek back to the house will be hard on him since he can't keep warm too well, but he'll have to find a way to get there.

Pushing thoughts of the cold house he'd have to return to after this away from his mind, he ignores his grumbling stomach and pours all that feeling into calculating his next strike. He'll bring __real __life to Gintoki's eyes and make the next hit so hard that he'll feel it for the next few days. True, Takasugi will have to listen to him whine, but he'll only gloat and raise his head a little higher because of it. Running his tongue over his chipped tooth, courtesy of Gintoki's previous win, Takasugi lowers his shoulders and takes a step forward.

He feigns an upward strike and Gintoki calls his bluff by moving out of range just in time. He counters with a blow that lands against Takasugi's back, but with a twisting motion, Takasugi cracks his sword against the back of Gintoki's shoulders so hard he lets out a tiny little scream. Takasugi isn't paying anyone else in the room any attention and neither of them are awarded a point, so they keep going. It's a lot of moving around and blocking and striking, each simultaneously moving forward and driving the other back.

"Enough," Shouyo calls and Takasugi, heaving, lowers his sword.

"What? Why?"

"You've both had enough for today."

"No! We can go a little longer!" Takasugi protests as Gintoki walks up to his side, his face lifeless once more. He prods at Gintoki, saying, "Tell him we can go a little more!"

"Mah, m'hungry."

Annoyed, Takasugi whops Gintoki on the back of his knees. With a tiny scream, he falls backward onto his ass and does that __ouch-ch-ch__ thing.

Looking up at Takasugi, Gintoki asks in a small voice, "__Why__?"

Takasugi doesn't even see the leg coming until it collides with his shins and suddenly he's with Gintoki on the floor on his face.

"Get it?" Gintoki asks and flops fully onto his back. "__Shin__suke."

Oh, that is so stupid. __So__ stupid.

Face contorting with disgust, Takasugi prepares to spring at him, but Shouyo's raised hand stops him.

"You both did well today, I'm very proud of you."

Takasugi feels his heart constrict and does his best not to react, so he looks away with a stubborn set to his jaw.

"Where's Zura?" Gintoki asks, sitting up like he hadn't heard what Shouyo had just said — Takasugi knows better than to believe that, though.

"It's __Katsura!__" comes the reply just as a rice ball soars through the air. Takasugi merely leans back out of its way, but Gintoki isn't paying attention and it hits him right in the face. "I've been here by the window this whole time! What am I, invisible?"

Gintoki doesn't really do anything except move the rice from his cheek into his mouth to eat it. Katsura comes over and offers them both a hand up, but once they're on their feet, Takasugi is bumping his shoulder into Gintoki's to try and get him going. Katsura gives him a shove to get him to stop, but Takasugi goes to shove him right back, but Gintoki slaps his hand away with his nasty and sticky rice fingers. Shouyo bonks them all on the head, but not hard enough to send them through the flooring — they only __just __got done fixing it since the last time it happened.

"Food is hard to come by, the only balls that should be thrown right now are snowballs." Takasugi exchanges a quick look with Gintoki who pulls his finger out of his nose and wipes it on Takasugi's shoulder. "You three against the rest of the class." There's a pause and Shouyo shoos them off with a hand, saying, "What are you waiting for? Get to your training before I change my mind, you have ten minutes to build a fort."

The room explodes with sound and Shouyo reminds them all to bundle up before going out. Only a few minutes later, everyone is outside making their forts and ammunition. Takasugi's back to back with Gintoki and Katsura as they form their army of snowball soldiers. Katsura is the best and fastest at making them and Gintoki's are as good as useless since they keep falling apart. In his mind, Takasugi repeats his score with Gintoki over and over, the number has never mattered to Gintoki, but Takasugi always keeps track. Shouyo sits on the porch, his breath coming out in white plumes, and Takasugi, hungry though he may be right now, is warm.


End file.
